Questions about anime and manga in the broader context of Japanese culture. Includes both questions about cultural origins for anime/manga references and questions about the cultural impact of a particular series.
Questions tagged [culture]
190 questions
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What was the first mecha anime/manga to feature combining to form a super robot?
Shows like Getter Robo or Zambot feature vehicles that (slightly transform) combine to form a giant super robot. What was the first anime or manga to use the combining tactic and was there an inspiration for this?
Jon Lin
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Why do most anime have field trips to Kyoto?
Most of the anime and manga I have read/watched have featured a field trip to Kyoto. (As a related example, Beelzebub's field trip destination was Okinawa.) I don't know much about class level or the education system of Japan.
Is Kyoto a field trip…
mirroroftruth
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What are the original memes mentioned in Steins;Gate?
As I understand it, the memes used in the fansubbed version of Steins;Gate were adapted for English audience. The Japanese audience would not know the "Yo Dawg" meme, for instance, since it is an English based meme. They would have their own set of…
Hydromast
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Does anime really account for 60% of the world’s animation-based entertainment?
I see some variation of this self-proclaimed unattributed fact on the web:
Anime accounts for 60% of the world's animation-based entertainment. So successful is animation in Japan, that there are almost 130 voice-acting schools in the…
кяαzєя
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What are those branches used in baths in Goblin Slayer episode 7?
In episode 7 of Goblin Slayer, at around 3:29, there are branches that are used in baths.
What are these branches and what is their purpose (like herbal)? Is it in Japanese culture or any other culture?
Zarak1
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Is there a superstition about good anime series having character(s) that run in the ED?
At the end of the Carnival Phantasm: HibiChika Special, Kohaku (Koha-Ace ver.) mentions that there is a superstition where good anime all have people running in the ending animation.
Does this superstition actually exist? If so, how true is this…
кяαzєя
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Is there a tradition behind giving people names from English words?
There are a number of shows/manga where characters have names that are English words. In Vampire Knight, a character is named Zero. Tokyo Mew Mew has characters with names like Lettuce, Mint, and Berry. Is there a tradition behind this?
kuwaly
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Why are "traps" and "genderbending" so common in anime and manga compared to Western media?
It seems to me that anime and manga has tropes like "traps" and even characters that change gender quite frequently, especially in comparison to Western series, which seem to have characters more consistently within "the binary." In particular, I'm…
anonymous
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Is there such a thing as an 'Indie'/Alternative anime scene?
Having followed anime for some time, one thing I have noticed, at least from my perspective, is that there is no equivalent of the Indie/Alternative scene when it comes to anime.
What I mean by this is that the vast majority of anime seems to be…
Suman Roy
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Why do many visual novels contain erotic content?
After watching/reading anime and manga, I recently started going into visual novels. One thing that struck me was the fact that erotic content (aka H-scenes) seems to be quite common in the world of visual novels. Examples: Fate/stay night, Muv-Luv…
python dude
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Is the Ship Spirit (klabautermann) based on any real legend?
In One Piece Chapter 254, Usopp saw someone that fix Going Merry, later in chapter 351, Franky told him that it actually a manifestation of a ship's soul.
Is this based on any real legend?
Darjeeling
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Where is this pool from?
I read a manga and one panel showed a swimming pool. Some readers commented "didn't expect to see that pool here" and no one would tell me where the pool was from. I presume it was from an anime or other manga
just wonder which swimming pool is so…
Tang Ho
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How come sports anime never have tryouts?
This might sound like a weird question, but hear me out. In all of the anime that I've seen that revolves around high school sports, they never seem to have the concept of the "tryout".
Keep in mind that I live in the States, so my perspective will…
DeeeFoo
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Why do females always run like this?
There are many examples of completely serious or plainly normal scenes in anime where a girl is running but then, I have to burst out in laughter because they are swinging their arms horizontally left and right.
I swear, no one runs like this. I've…
Jack Pan
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Why does Yomi relate 3661 with "Samurai"?
In the last episode of Azumanga Daioh, Yomi relates 3661 with samurai word.
I know is a mnemonic technique to remember things, so things should be something like:
3 ~> sa ~> san
6 ~> mu ~> ??? (maybe shape of hiragana? む )
6 ~> ra ~> ...roku??
1…
Alter Lagos
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